TV show reveals how firefighters dealt with huge Aston Expressway bomb
A bomb scare that brought a busy Birmingham motorway to a standstill last year will be featured in the documentary Into The Fire tomorrow night.
Episode five of the series, which follows the work of West Midlands Fire Service, takes viewers back to May last year when an unexploded Second World War bomb saw the Aston Expressway – the city’s busiest motorway network – on lockdown for 36 hours.
The shock closure caused chaos for commuters, but now they have a chance to see just what went on behind the scenes.
On May 16 last year, workers stumbled across an incredible find – a 500lb (227kg) German bomb from the Second World War.
Laying dormant for 70 years, it was revealed the device was one of the largest ever unexploded bombs discovered in Britain and dropped on Aston at the height of the Birmingham Blitz, failing to detonate at the time.
The discovery, on a busy Tuesday, brought the city to an immediate halt.
Group manager of Emergency Response West Midlands Fire Service Ben Diamond appeared on the documentary to talk about what went on in the first instances.
WATCH the moment the bomb exploded:
Speaking at the time of the incident he said: “It’s a 500 pound bomb from the Second World War so it would do significant damage if it were to go off unexpectedly.
“Because of the unstable nature of the bomb they would rather make it safe and take it away somewhere and do that in a place of safety but on this occasion it’s far too dangerous to do that – they can’t move it.”
Firefighters, police officers, highways officers and military bomb squad members gathered to discuss how to detonate the bomb safely.
The area it was discovered in is surrounded by houses, businesses, and major roads.
There was the fear that as the bomb was found only 200 metres from the Aston Expressway, if it went off unexpectedly the shockwaves would hit the motorway.
Emergency services set up a one-mile exclusion zone and fit vibration sensors onto nearby columns.
Specialist firefighters were called to the scene, including crew commander for the West Midlands Technical Rescue Unit, Pete Sheppard.
He said: “It was the first time I’d been sent into an exclusion zone with an active bomb in the centre of it.
"We have been to other sites where there were reports of an explosion and we have gone into the inner cordon but they have generally been a gas explosion. So they have not suspected other devices.
“It was still a bit unnerving knowing what was in the inner cordon and where, that every other person was completely excluded from.”
The bomb was detonated during a controlled explosion at about 3pm, so that commuters could use the road during rush hour.
Firefighter Peter said: “Sure I did feel a bit of a blast on me. But it was the noise and I think I was not expecting it.
"It gave me a feeling of how it would have felt in the Second World War with those bombs dropping all around.”
Into the Fire can be viewed tomorrow at 9pm on Really. Alternatively visit uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/shows/into-the-fire/watch-online to catch up.
